There are beginning to be telephone network applications which control telecommunications from a central point. One such application is a centralized predictive dialer. Predictive dialing in general is an established technology, well known in the art, which deals with placing calls at a rate that will minimize calling agent idle time. Essentially a predictive dialer will screen out busy calls, calls which ring with no answer, or machine answered calls, only connecting live answered calls to a calling agent or customer service representative. It is integral to the effort to optimize the efficiency of the calling agent to relieve him/her of dealing with ring no answer, busy and calls otherwise unsuccessful in contacting a human.
A major advantage of predictive dialing systems is the ability to average the efficiency of a pool of calling agents or customer service representatives. In large outbound call centers such averaging is necessary. It would be cost prohibitive to have one out of every five calls completed, which is typical, while having the calling agents dealing with all these other non-productive things.
A disadvantage of predictive dialing systems is that, for the casual user or the intermittent user, such systems are generally too expensive to cost justify. To own and maintain a predictive dialing system on premise is very expensive. Even a small present day system costs a great deal, and the cost increases with the inclusion of additional agent positions. Such a system is a capital cost in which most casual or intermittent users are unable or unwilling to invest.
One solution available to the intermittent user, such as one who has a calling campaign that runs once or twice a year, is to contract out the calling campaigns to a service bureau having the necessary equipment and personnel. Here the user provides the service bureau with information, such as names and numbers of target persons to contact as well as scripted dialogue to be used upon contact, and the service bureau executes the campaign for them with their own agent staff and their own predictive dialing system. Thereafter, the service bureau presents the user with the results of the particular calling campaign.
One drawback of the service bureau arrangement is that all contact with the target parties, presumably customers or other individuals upon which the user wishes to make a favorable impression, has been placed with the agents of the service bureau. Although the user typically provides a script from which to orchestrate the contact, there may be instances where the dialogue does not cover the situation, thus requiring a call back or otherwise incomplete contact. Such an incomplete contact at the very least causes inefficiency in the system, and quite possibly leaves a less than favorable impression on the individual so handled.
Furthermore, the service bureau agents are not directly accountable to the user. These agents have not been specifically screened or chosen by the user for representation in what quite possibly could be the only contact between the user and the contacted individual. Therefore, there is a possibility of improper representation of the user, over which the user has no direct control or ability to remedy.
One solution to the above-discussed problem is to use a network based system and to use individuals working remotely from their homes or offices. In such a system, the network application places calls based upon data supplied by an organization. When the network system detects that a live person has answered (as apposed to a no-answer or to an answering machine) the network then connects the call through to one of the remote based agents.
One problem with such an approach is that the called party may have caller ID which identifies the calling party. In the scenario just mentioned the calling party will be calling on behalf of an agency (for example, a particular charity) and the caller ID at the called party's end will show the caller's home phone number and his/her name, or will show the identity of the network based system. The caller ID will not, however, show the identity of the charity. This, of course, is not a good situation.
Even in the situation where a conventional predictive dialing bureau makes the phone calls for "house" agents, the caller ID of the called station will show the ID of the calling bureau and not the ID of the organization for which the calls are being placed.
This problem is also present with any central based application that places, or routes, calls for another party or in situations where a party uses his/her home telephone to make a call that is better identified as coming from the real party in interest. For example, in a work-at-home situation where a party makes calls on behalf of an employer, or, for example, a law enforcement person makes a call from a private telephone, it is not appropriate (and indeed counterproductive) to have the called party's caller ID display the identity of the actual station from which the call was placed.
Simply blocking the outgoing caller ID is not the solution since many people now block all incoming calls where the called party's ID has been withheld. Also, when soliciting for a charity, the natural skeptism of the called party as to the true identity of the caller will be reduced if the charity's name were to appear on the caller ID.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a system in which the caller ID of a called party shows the real party in interest to that call and not the ID of the station from which the call was placed.
A further need in the art is for such a system in which any substitute caller ID is screened for permission on a call by call basis.
Accordingly, a further need exists in the art for a such a system which may be cost effectively utilized by the casual or intermittent user.
A further need exists in the art for such a system allowing communication by agents located geographically remote from the organization from which they are calling.
Yet a further need in the art exists for a system which allows agents to utilize general purpose information communication devices to contact target parties, while preserving their caller ID private.